WHEN it comes to historic royal occasions us Brits always have it covered.

We can string up the bunting, wave the flags and raise a glass in any weather for any important occasion. You could say it’s in our genes.

But this week saw the baptism of Prince George of Cambridge pass by with very little fuss.

From the moment the date of this historic event was announced, Buckingham Palace went to great efforts to play it down. It was, they insisted an “intimate family occasion”.

Of course this didn’t stop the speculation about who would have the honour of being the future king’s godparents?

Who would get an invite? What would the baby wear? What would the service involve?

What is the role of a godparent? Are there rules for choosing one?

What is the difference between a christening and a baptism?

But the palace remained steadfast – this was not a public occasion.

Our interest was, frankly, not welcome.

In the end the godparents were named on the morning of the service, the Middletons were shepherded through some back door of St James’s Palace to avoid the cameras, and most of the Royal family was – well, left out in the cold, banished from the guest list for fear, presumably of it attracting too much attention.

The measly three official photographs which were eventually released were done so not via the usual channels, but through an agency which charged for their use and imposed strict rules dictating that they could only be used for 24 hours, after which they had to be deleted from the archives.

The end result was that most regional and even some national papers admitted defeat and chose not to run them.

Hardly the joyous celebration of life and faith that one would expect from a baby’s christening – let alone the third in line to the throne and, more signifcantly, the future head of the Church of England.

The prince’s baptism into the faith that he will one day lead was surely an occasion of immense importance.

It should have been a marvellous excuse for the church to spread the word about baptism, to enlighten people about a service, which in my opinion, is very much misunderstood.

Sadly, instead it was portrayed as something which should be done behind closed doors, with little fuss or fanfare and certainly no flag flying.

Stephanie Preece